Marvin Miller’s impact Hall of Fame worthy

Paul Jannace

Wednesday

Nov 28, 2012 at 12:01 AMNov 28, 2012 at 7:48 PM

When Josh Hamilton signs his massive free agent deal this winter he likely will not thank Marvin Miller.

Alex Rodriguez probably forgot to mention Marvin Miller after signing each of his mega 10-year contracts. Hamilton and Rodriguez missed a wonderful opportunity to thank the man who made the the zeroes in those deals possible.

When Josh Hamilton signs his massive free agent deal this winter he likely will not thank Marvin Miller.
Alex Rodriguez probably forgot to mention Marvin Miller after signing each of his mega 10-year contracts.
Hamilton and Rodriguez missed a wonderful opportunity to thank the man who made the the zeroes in those deals possible.

Miller, who passed away at the age of 95 on Tuesday, is one of baseball’s greatest contributors and rarely gets the praise he has earned.

As the head of the players’ association, Miller ushered in free agency as we know it and is the biggest reason why baseball players earn such huge salaries today. While that may wrinkle some feathers and many may think Miller was bad for the game, it’s hard to argue his significance in the sport’s history.

Baseball players were not always paid the obscene salaries they earn today, and many had side jobs during the winter to make ends meet or played in exhibition tournaments to make some extra cash. It’s hard to imagine that now because of the disgusting amount of money they make, but Miller helped change the course of baseball history.

Miller took over as head of the players’ association in 1966 — before free agency. Players could not negotiate salary and could not switch teams. Most other workers in this country could shop their services to different companies, but baseball players could not. Heck, before Miller came along, baseball and its owners were exempt from antitrust laws. Miller set out to change all of that — and he did.

Miller negotiated the first collective bargaining agreement in 1968, which nearly doubled a player’s minimum salary, then got the owners to agree to arbitration for the first time in history two years later.

Of course, Miller’s biggest impact came with his creation of free agency. While Curt Flood eventually lost his battle over the Reserve Clause with the Supreme Court in the early 1970s, Miller would never stop his fight.

Catfish Hunter earned the sport’s first $1 million contract in 1974, then one year later the famous Seitz Decision brought about baseball free agency.

Now, when rattling off the great things Miller brought to the sport you can’t ignore the black marks. Miller led the players’ union through three work stoppages, including a long strike in 1981. However, Miller is credited with increasing the players’ average salary from just under $20,000 to over $240,000 during his tenure.

Miller made the MLB Players’ Association one of the strongest labor unions in the history of this country. Although, the strength and effectiveness of the players’ union is part of the reason why we had the 1994 strike which wiped out the World Series.

Miller also was often dismissive of the Hall of Fame, which could have been out of bitterness from being excluded and is one of the biggest reasons why he has yet to be enshrined. Now that he has died, it is very possible he may finally be welcomed into Cooperstown — since he will not be able to make a speech — but it’s a shame he couldn’t enjoy an honor that is well deserved.

There are many figures in baseball history who never played the game professionally, yet are as important — if not more so — as any player enshrined in Cooperstown. Miller belongs in the Hall of Fame along with men like Bill Veeck, Branch Rickey, and Bowie Kuhn who all played a major role in making baseball the beautiful game it is.

Whether you see Miller as a hero or a villain, he is a sports giant whose impact on the game of baseball will be felt until the end of time.